PARDUBICE, Czech Republic — Slovakia edged Denmark 4-3 and Kazakhstan downed Switzerland 3-1 on Sunday for their first wins at the world junior hockey championship.
Slovakia jumped to a 3-0 lead in the second period with goals from Ivan Rohac, Matej Cesik and Erik Caladi and then held off Denmark's rally in the third.
In Liberec, Yakov Vorobyov scored twice to give Kazakhstan a 2-0 lead after the second period. Switzerland answered with a goal by Yannick Webber in the third, but Yevgeni Rymarev secured the win with 53 seconds left.
None of the four teams can advance to the quarter-finals and will play in the relegation round.
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Sweden tops Group A with nine points, three more than three-time defending champion Canada and host Czech Republic. In Group B, the United States leads with nine points, three more than Russia. Finland is third with five.
The winner of each group qualifies for the semifinals, while the second- and third-place teams play in quarter-finals.
